Firearms of Alicia
Alicia has been the frontline of scientific progress for years and military technology was no exception to the rules. Firearms have been a staple of Alicia for the longest time, though a few other nations had them before Alicia did it was abundantly clear early on that Alician technology far outstripped any other nation. Today most firearms are produced by the Alician Royal Armament Branch, based within the capital city. Ranging from single shot rifles all the way up to the much more modern clockwork load rifles, Alicia is set to be the leaders in Firearm technology for years to come. History Variants While the Alician army has been pushing more towards a standardized model for the infantry there are still several unique variations and entirely specialist firearms that exist. ARAIR The Alician Royal Army Infantry Rifle is the standard rifle that most of the Alician Royal Army is equipped with. The design has undergone various renditions and rebuilds throughout its name life, entirely new models and upgrades all carrying the same name but with a 'nickname' and mark based on model and version. For example the current model used is the ARAIR 'Valiant' Mk 3. The rifle has pre-set requirements as laid down by the armed forces quartermaster as well as the current leader of Alicia. * The Standard Infantry rifle must be kept under a certain weight, defined by the quartermaster each order. * The rifle must be proofed against the sheer cold and ice that is common in Alicia. * The rifle must be kept within dimensions specified by the quartermaster. Being the most common rifle it is often seen everywhere, though the models vary between forces used, the Alician Royal Navy for example uses a seaproof variant and the Alician Royal Airforce use a shortened version. Below will list the current in use versions of the ARAIR rifle. ARAIR 'Valiant' Mk1-3 The specific model used as a standard issue for all Alician infantry within the Royal Army, the model is named after its designer at the Royal Armory. The Valliant was a major step up from its predicessor and is the first true mass produced Alician rifle capable of consecutive fire. The design came at timely, being prototyped just before the Edelterrian Liberation War and the first field tests were infact in real combat during the war. Specialist units were given the rifle on the eve of the wars beginning and proceeded to use it throughout the full length of the war. Original complaints were mostly due to the sheer difference the rifle's design was to the previous model, most of the Alician Infantry were drilled and used to single fire rifles and having to adapt meant changing up styles. The early prototypes often had a tendency to jam easier too, the cocking mechanism often getting stuck as the user attempted to ready the next round. However despite the flaws most reports stated that the rifle was a massive improvement, in a head on confrontation with charging enemies they were able to get off two maybe even three shots before having to switch to close combat as opposed to usually only one. Once the war had ended the model was put into mass production with the various flaws worked on and ironed out as best they could be with the rushed production thanks to the potential of all out war with Cotorgrath. Due to its complexity the Valiant takes much longer to produce and as such currently only two thirds of the Alician Royal Army are equipped with it, with the final run on high priority due to the wartime situation. The Valiant uses a special form of loading, where previous rifles required the round to be loaded each time through the top of the rifle the Valiant uses pre loaded magazines of five rounds each. Attached to the underside of the rifle the magazine has to be locked into place manually and each round loaded between shots, loading is done by tugging the main bolt on the rifle back before loading the next round via a secondary bolt just above the magazine, one tug back will load the round and then all that remains is to close the main bolt. The process is rather clunky when first handling the rifle, but most troops agree that the rifle is a vast upgrade to the older ones, the rate of fire alone has proven to break the ranks of Cotorgrath lines before they can close range. It is however not the perfect rifle and still suffers from some critical flaws that have yet to be ironed out of the design. One complaint is that the secondary bolt is too brittle and that in the heat of battle if a soldier tugs on it too hard then it can break or snap, rendering the rifle useless until the secondary bolt is replaced. The second complaint is how the rifle handles dirt and mud, the complex workings of the magazine tend to not sit well with heavy mud or sand and more often than not require extensive maintenance to avoid jamming. The second of these is already being looked into by developing a proper enclosed magazine rather than just a housing to hold the clip. Other issues stem from lack of supply due to the need to get the rifle to every man, each soldier is only given three magazines yet they usually carry at least thirty rounds, as such to continue firing past fifteen shots they need to manually load up each magazine to fire again. Eventually this issue will be solved by distributing more magazines but for the time being it is down to accuracy and fire team tactics.